This year's off-road 4x4 Rhino Charge competition will be held on June 3, according to Paul Udoto of the Kenya Wildlife Service.
The Rhino Charge is an annual off-road 4×4 competition, which is used to raise funds to support the activities of the Rhino Ark Kenya Charitable Trust, an NGO which works towards the conservation and protection of Kenya’s mountain range ecosystems, also known as “Water Towers”.
Udoto said last year's event which took place at Mosiro, Kajiado County, raised a remarkable Sh156 million for the conservation of Kenya’s mountain ecosystems.
The event has so far raised over Sh1.9 billion for the vital projects managed by Rhino Ark, which seeks to create a win-win equilibrium that balances the needs of local communities intending to protect nature.
The Rhino Ark has built 650 km of electric fences and as a result, over 80,000 families are being protected from the dangers of human-wildlife conflicts.
“Rhino Ark’s electric fences protect critical mountain forests that are the ‘water towers’ in the country,” said Udoto.
According to Udoto, these mountain forests are vital ecosystems that support the country’s economic development and the well-being of most Kenyans.
The three mountain ecosystems —Aberdares, Mt. Kenya, and the Mau Forest –where the Rhino Ark operates, provides yearly ecological services to Kenya worth a staggering amount of Sh412 billion.
As usual, the organisers of the Rhino Charge off-road 4x4 competition have not announced where the competition will be held.
Such an announcement is done in the last days of the reparation to avoid the participants from practicing on the circuit of the event.